In Memory

Saturday, November 05, 2011

Matchmakers

Since I have been spending many days working in the office at the DSC and forming a great friendship with Cheryl in the other office over the last little while, it has become apparent that we very much think alike when it comes to certain things, even though a lot of others have other opinions, but we just keep collecting evidents and literature after literature that we are definitely on the right track. With this motion in mind, we have decided to play matchmaker at the DSC. Now, as most people know, donkeys are very social animals and like having a close friend, sometimes more than one, but at least one. Our sweet Dolly however is special, she is a very needy donkey when it comes to having a companion, some of ours are just happy to be in a group and don't need a close friend, but Dolly always has been the epiphany of wanting to be a part of a duo. From the time I have known Dolly she was attached to the side of another donkey. In the beginning it was Dusty Rose, and then one day Dusty decided she didn't want Dolly around anymore and Dolly was devastated, but despite Dusty's mean behaviour towards her, Dolly kept trotting along everywhere Dusty went. To watch this mean behaviour towards Dolly was just hard breaking and we opted at one point to put Dolly in the main herd, but Dolly wanted no part in this, so we brought her back over to the barnyard side. After weeks she finally bonded with my sweet Buffy and the two were inseparable, but after months of close friendship and many changes at the DSC, due to new feeding programs and future plans, it was necessary for Buffy and Dolly to be in separate paddocks, so once again Dolly has lost her friend. Then one day she found Lady, Lady was one half of another close friendship between Lady and Donkeschoen, and because of an ailment Donkeschoen was brought over to the hosptial side of the DSC, so Lady was alone, and missed her friend....it didn't take long to see Dolly atttach herself to Lady as good friend. After a while Donkeschoen recovered and joined the main herd again, leaving her lonely and , we found, a little bit depressed but soon after Lady got over being mad at Donkeschoen for leaving those two were seen back together, leaving poor Dolly again without a friend. However even though Lady and Donkeschoen are back together, Dolly is often seen with them, and I am glad to see that they don't treat her meanly but Dolly looks so sad to have lost that close bond again with a donkey friend. So this is were we come in, we have decided to make thing happen, if it works is another story but at least we are trying, so we have decided to take Dolly and Rosie, who just recently lost her mom, on walks together on our lunch breaks and hopefully over time Dolly might hang on to Rosie. The first walk we did went well, they both walked nicely, sniffed each other out along the way and it was just a beautiful walk around the Apple tree hill trail through the woods and the autumn leaves on the ground. Can't wait for the next time we can do it again. Hopefully our plan will work, and Dolly and Rosie will bond, they will be together at least even when the new arrangement with the paddocks has beenworked out, since both are on the Weight management program, so we are not only doing something for their physical well being (walking up and down the hill), but hopefully also something for Dolly's emotional well being.

5 comments:

This sounds like donkey high school, with mean girls and best friend breakups. But I know what you mean about donkeys needing a best friend. At the rescue here, there was a blind senior wild burro who had a best friend. They always stood together and when feeding time arrived the sighted burro made sure that his friend got to the food. I will never forget the friendship between those two, it was very touching. I hope for a new best friend for Dolly. You are so sweet to care so much about her.